18 Floors Above the Apocalypse

Chapter 254

Jasper, who wanted to take his time and do a meticulous job, had no choice but to passively accept. "Alright, we'll cover the meals. We'll pay you a salary in provisions when the time comes. "Let's not spoil them," Austin warned, "They are under contract after all."

He called them over for a break and asked excitedly, "How do you plan to renovate the place?"

Stella shared her plans of reinforcing the outer walls, building a greenhouse on the rooftop and in the backyard to grow vegetables and raise chickens and ducks.

Austin nearly dropped his cigarette in surprise, "Everyone else is putting in swimming pools and you're planning a farm?"

"We've spent everything on this house, and we can't afford any extra luxuries," Stella said bluntly, "I can live without swimming, but I can't live without food."

Austin laughed heartily, "You've got the right idea. Growing your own food is way more practical. Once you're done, I'll take a leaf out of your book."

They were both savvy people, especially Stella. She was not one to be taken advantage of. Despite the struggles of the past three years, she was doing better than ever. So, following her lead was a no-brainer.

However, Austin was a bit hesitant about the idea of installing broken glass on top of the high walls, "Why bother? It's not enough security. I could get you some electric fencing instead."

Stella wasn't against simplifying things, but an electric fence around the entire property would require a lot of materials. After three years, those were not easy to come by.

But when it came to finding supplies, there were very few things Austin couldn't handle.

Stella smiled, "I'll leave it to you then, Austin."

collapsing, too low and it wouldn't offer sufficient protection. They calculated the correct height and asked Austin for help, planning to barter the materials with food.

of what they needed, except for assembling the greenhouse which neither

"Rob knows his stuff. He can

construction crew was still hard at work, Stella decided to start cooking, "I'll

was looking forward to it. He rolled up his sleeves

cooking with Rosie and Cooper assisting. The meal was simple: sweet potato and rice, dried beans with bacon, dried radishes with pork belly, dried cabbage salad, and a large pot of sweet potato leaves. Despite the simplicity

They would scoop up a good amount of rice, grab a bunch of vegetables, and crouch down on the ground to eat. "Mmm, the food you made is delicious, Stella!" said Monkey, eating a

good money, he had a wife and child at home to provide for. They could not afford to eat till they were full at every meal. The

not cook. Most of

struck gold with

"Indeed, I must've done something right in

the day, the crew packed up and headed to Austin's house to

Stella and Jasper, and they

the three-meter-high

itself. The walls needed a layer of plaster, which required three layers due to the thinness of the walls: a layer of cement mortar, a layer of mixed mortar, and a layer of white mortar for the surface. Each layer had to be thicker than the last, with the main aim

the apocalypse, he latched onto Austin's coattails and became a middleman. He wasn't living in luxury, but compared to most survivors, he was doing quite well. So, here he was, going back

gesturing at Austin, "Boss, you're not applying the cement

Instead, he hit the back of

backed down, "No, no, no, I wouldn't dare! Boss,

commit fully. If I

envious, "Can you help us source some so we can finish renovating the villa area? We'll split the profits." Stella laughed, "Austin, don't joke. It took us over six months to find